Members of the Shenzhou 17 mission aboard the China Space Station Tiangong joined in a Lunar New Year celebration that highlighted cultural traditions far from home. A special banquet was held aboard Tiangong to mark the holiday, with a menu shared in the official gazette and discussed on social media platforms used by the station crew. The event underscored how spacefarers carry familiar customs with them even as they conduct ambitious scientific work in orbit above the Earth.
The published menu showcased a spectrum of cherished Chinese dishes designed to evoke the festive spirit. Guests could expect flavors such as smoked fish, green onion pancakes, glutinous rice cakes, roast duck, tomato and egg soup, dumplings, rice porridge, sesame buns, and an assortment of juices and other delicacies. The menu reflected regional favorites and the robust culinary heritage that many families celebrate during the Lunar New Year, offering the crew a taste of home in a weightless environment while reinforcing morale and camaraderie among the three astronauts on board.
The Shenzhou 17 crew members—Commander Tang Hongbo, along with taikonauts Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin—were scheduled to return to Earth in April 2024. The space meal served as a thoughtful gesture to help offset the absence of direct family gatherings during the holiday period. In space, where the pace of daily life differs from Earth routines, the celebration became a meaningful reminder of shared human customs that connect people across distance and frontiers while the mission progresses through its planned timeline and tasks.
For context, the Lunar New Year in 2024 began on February 10 according to the Eastern calendar. Traditionally, this holiday starts with the second new moon after the winter solstice, a window that places its date anywhere between January 21 and February 20 each year. The festivities typically extend across 15 days, culminating with the next full moon around February 24. In space, observers can still mark the occasion through meals, rituals, and messages that echo the ways families observe the season on Earth, helping to maintain cultural continuity for crews on long-duration missions.
Historically, China has pursued continuous human presence in space by deploying the manned spacecraft to the Tiangong orbital station, a development that enables sustained research, international collaboration, and extended exploration opportunities. The ongoing presence of the Shenzhou program at Tiangong represents a major step in the broader strategy to advance space science, technology, and capacity, while also serving as a stage for astronauts to experience and share traditional celebrations in a frontier environment. The 2024 timeline reflects the steady cadence of missions designed to expand capabilities and deepen understanding of life and work in microgravity, with crew welfare and cultural observances playing a meaningful role along the way.